Wife of Hamilton's Miguel Cervantes Feels a 'Gaping Hole of Grief' After Death of Daughter, 3
On Sunday, Hamilton star Miguel Cervantes and his wife Kelly will celebrate the life of their 3-year-old daughter Adelaide, who died on Oct. 12 after battling a series of health issues throughout her life. With this weekend’s Celebration of Life ceremony in honor of Adelaide looming, Kelly took to her blog to express the pain she’s experiencing.
“For over a year I have used this blog, my words, as a way to connect with others and to spread awareness, but it’s also been a therapeutic outlet for me,” Kelly, 37, wrote on her Inchstones blog on Friday in a post titled “The Dark.” “So, I’m giving myself a pass this week and acknowledging that there is nothing I can say on this page that is going to make any of this better. I know in time I may feel a sense of conflicting relief but right now its just a gaping hole of grief. No amount of flowers, food, alcohol or words can fill it and to be entirely honest, right now I don’t want them to.”
“She was held in the loving arms of her family as she peacefully achieves the ‘calm’ for which they’ve been searching for so long,” Kelly and Miguel said in a statement to PEOPLE on Sunday. “They would like to extend their deepest, heartfelt gratitude to all who have reached out with words of support and prayer and will continue to feel all the love as they go through this difficult time.”
In a November 2018 interview with PEOPLE, Miguel and Kelly shared that Adelaide missed some traditional milestones as a baby, and when she was just 7 months old, she experienced her first seizure. Doctors would quickly determine that the seizure was a result of epilepsy. At 9 months old, Adelaide was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms (IS.)
“I’ve been spending a lot of time in Adelaide’s room these last few days,” Cervantes wrote in the emotional blog post. “It’s small and contained and there is nowhere in the world that I feel closer to her. I don’t do much other than lay in her bed, think of her and work through a Costco pallet’s worth of Kleenex.”
Adelaide would have turned 4 years old on Thursday.
“Four years ago today you came barreling into this world,” Kelly wrote on her Instagram Thursday. “Five days ago you left it. We love you so much, Adelaideybug. I hope you’re eating alllll the cake. Happy birthday.”
A post shared by Kelly Cervantes (@kellygc411) on Oct 17, 2019 at 5:22am PDT
Miguel, 42, also posted a tribute on Instagram, sharing an image of a then-newborn Adelaide that looked to have been taken on the day of her birth. “Happy birthday to our baby sister. We will celebrate you today and every day,” he wrote.
Miguel will briefly take a break from his leading role in the Chicago production of Hamilton. However, he plans to return to the stage soon.
The pair will hold their daughter’s Celebration of Life ceremony this upcoming Sunday, at Harold Washington Chicago Public Library.
Next month is Epilepsy Awareness Month. To help support the cause, donate to CURE.
